Yanagi Kotaro
|japanesename = 柳浩太郎 (やなぎ こうたろう) |romaji = Yanagi Kōtarō |character = Echizen Ryoma |birthday = December 21, 1985 |bornin = Berlin, Germany |Generation = Seigaku 1st|headerbkgndcolor = #0033CC |headertextcolor = #FFFFFF|age = |prev = N/A |next = Kimeru Endo Yuya Sakurada Dori}} Kotaro Yanagi (柳浩太郎 Yanagi Kōtarō), alternatively spelled as Yanagi Kotarou, is an actor for Watanabe Entertainment. He is born December 21st, 1985 in Berlin, Germany. He was the sub-leader of the Watanabe Entertainment-headed acting troupe called D-BOYS. In TeniMyu he provides the role of Echizen Ryoma in the first and second-generation Seigaku cast. Accident After leaving a rehearsal for Remarkable 1st Match: Fudomine, less than two weeks before it was due to open, Yanagi was hit by a car. He had extensive damage to his body and vocal cords and was in a coma for two weeks. Doctors predicted he would be bedridden for the rest of his life. After waking up, Yanagi weighed around 30 kg and was unable to get up at all. However, Yanagi was able to make a miraculous recovery and is currently strong enough to act again, although he has difficulty with his dancing and singing. His recovery time prevented him from playing in Remarkable 1st and the next two Prince of Tennis musicals; J-pop singer and co-star Kimeru, who was playing the role of Fuji Shusuke, filled in as Echizen for Remarkable 1st, and Endo Yuya was eventually cast as the new Echizen. Yanagi was able to come back and star in the Side Fudomine musical, and got the chance to perform with his fellow first Seigaku cast members one last time before they graduated out of their roles; he shared the role of Echizen with Endo, but he only acted in stand still scenes while Endo did the dancing and tennis match choreography. He did not appear in the Side Yamabuki musical. After Endo graduated from the musicals after Dream Live 2nd (in which he and Yanagi again shared the role), Yanagi continued playing Echizen with the second Seigaku cast up until he and the cast graduated; although he played the tennis matches, his movements were still slow, and many of the dancing skits he was in had limited choreography so he could keep up with the rest of the cast, and vice versa for them. Kimeru, Endo, and Nagayama Takashi went to see Yanagi graduate from his role at the final performance of Dream Live 3rd. Because of his accident, Yanagi wasn't able to join his castmates in the live film adaptation of The Prince of Tennis. At the same time, the directors wanted to cast someone younger for the role, as Yanagi was twenty years old at the time. Actor Hongo Kanata was cast as the movie's Echizen. As a result of the accident, Yanagi now walks with a permanent limp, his voice is forever changed, and his speech pattern is slightly slurred. Despite this, Yanagi continues to act and sing. Kimeru, who was close friends with Yanagi, was struck hard by the accident that when he released his third single, OVERLAP (a theme song for the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters), he also dedicated its coupling song, OATH IN THE STORM, to Yanagi. TeniMyu *Musical Tennis no Ouji-sama *In Winter 2004-2005 Side Fudomine ~Special Match~ *Dream Live 2nd *The Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen *Dream Live 3rd *Dream Live 7th *Dream Live 2013 (Guest) Theater D-BOYS STAGE *vol.1「完売御礼」（2007年6月） - 古北浩太郎 / 桂小五郎 役 *vol.2「ラストゲーム〜最後の早慶戦〜」（2008年6月 - 7月） - ハンドルネーム・ケイオー 役 *vol.3「鴉〜KARASU〜 04」（2009年4月） - 吾郎 役 *2010 trial-2「ラストゲーム」（2010年8月- 9月） - ハンドルネーム・ケイオー 役 *2011 春公演「ヴェニスの商人」（2011年4月 - 5月） - ジェシカ 役 *2012「クールの誕生」(2012年9月）-　塙　役 Other Performances *Cooky Clown（2007年3月） - 主演 クッキークラウン 役 *OUT OF ORDER〜偉人伝心〜（2007年3月） - 日替わりゲスト *体感季節（2007年11月） - 主演 虹岡由良 役 *SOHJI・そうぢ!（2008年1月） - 近藤勇 役 *メモリーズ3（2008年3月 - 4月） - 森津悟 役 *ルドンの黙示（2008年8月） - 主演 ルドン 役 *テーブル・マナー〜週末の食卓は修羅場〜（2009年2月） - 健 役 *ママと僕たち（2013年6月) Filmography TV *Tadashii Oji no Tsukurikata (TV Tokyo, 2008) *Puzzle (TV Asahi, 2007) *DD-Boys (2006) *Rocket Boys (TV Tokyo, 2006) *Ah! House Collapses! (2004) Movies *Chikan Otoko (2005) *Aa~! Izakaya Puroresu (2004 - 2005) Trivia *He likes street dancing, lock dancing and is skilled in pantomine. *He has lived in India and has attended an American boarding school, where he learned English. *He has so far been the longest serving actor to play Echizen. *He has released a photobook titled "20-2", shortly before his accident. *He has an Idol DVD released called YA-NA-GI. *Yanagi released his a photobook/album titled "NAGILAND" in September 2007. *He has been a host on Marvelous Radio Vibration between 2005 and 2006. *He has been in a Nissin Food Cup Noodle's CM. Websites *Official Blog *Previous Blog *Agency Profile *D-BOYS Website *AsianWiki Profile *MDL (MyDramaList) Profile *English Wikipedia *Japanese Wikipedia Category:Seigaku Category:Seigaku 1st cast Category:Seigaku 2nd Category:Double-cast Category:Actors